The club was already loud when they arrived, music thumped through the walls before they even entered
Mia paused at the entrance.
Her fingers tightened around her bag strap.
"Khloe…" she muttered.
Khloe grabbed her hand. "No turning back."
And pulled her in.
The inside hit Mia like a wave. The light,Sound,movement everything too fast, too bright,too close.
People danced like they weren't thinking.
Laughed like they didn't care.
Existed like they belonged.
Mia, on the other hand, immediately felt like she had been dropped into the wrong world.
"Emmanuel!" Khloe shouted, spotting her boyfriend.
A tall boy turned and grinned.
"Babe!"
Khloe ran into his arms without hesitation.
Mia stood there awkwardly, giving a small wave.
"Hi… happy birthday."
"Thanks!" Emmanuel smiled warmly. "You're Khloe's roommate, right?"
Mia nodded. "Yes."
"You're welcome here, okay?"
Mia smiled politely.
But she already knew
She wasn't comfortable
Across the room, David Richard leaned against the bar.
Raymond was talking beside him, laughing about something irrelevant.
But David wasn't listening.
His eyes had locked onto her the moment she walked in.
The girl in black.
Not dancing.
Not smiling.
Not trying to be seen.
Just existing quietly in the middle of noise that didn't match her.
David kept watching her.
The way she shifted slightly when people passed too close.
The way she avoided eye contact.
The way she kept checking her surroundings like she was waiting for permission to breathe.
Something about it stayed with him.
Khloe disappeared into the crowd again, pulled into dancing and laughter.
Emmanuel was surrounded by friends.
Mia was left on a couch near the wall quiet still
She watched everyone like she was watching a movie she hadn't been cast in.
Her drink sat untouched in her hand.
She didn't know what to do with herself.
Her phone buzzed again, she looked down, Mom Calling
Her chest tightened.
She hesitated.
The noise around her felt too loud for that conversation.
So she pressed decline.
Then it buzzed again.
She stared at it longer this time, then went outside to pick the call.
David pushed off the bar.
Raymond frowned. "Where you going?"
"Outside," David said simply.
"For what?"
But David was already walking.
He didn't know why he was going toward her
Like something about her silence was louder than the music